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A heroic father is dead after he tried to protect his 11-year-old daughter from two heavily armed men during a home invasion.

Police say the incident occurred late Tuesday night in Miami after two black males entered the home with the intent to rob. The dad, identified as Maurice Harris, 36, jumped up and fought the suspects when they attempted to enter his 11-year-old daughter’s bedroom. The dad was fatally shot “several times” during the scuffle.

Certainly a father and husband’s worst nightmare, the two armed men also held Harris’ wife at gunpoint during the home invasion, according to the victim’s mother-in-law Annie Streeter.

“One of the guys tried to get to his daughter’s room, he jumped up and they were fighting back and forth,” Streeter told WSVN-TV. “I guess that’s when the gun went off.”

Harris was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

“We call these two men beasts. These men are beasts…They storm inside the house. A little girl was asleep when she was surprised by the gunfire. The father was just trying to protect her,” a spokeswoman from Miami police told the Miami Herald.

Neighbors are recognizing Harris as a real hero. “Unfortunately, he died but he’s super dad,” Terry Jones told WSVN-TV. “I hope I have that much courage if something like that would’ve happened to me.”